Trump Pledges Travel Ban Will Go to Supreme Court, If Necessary

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on Wednesday in Nashville. AP / Mark Humphrey

President Trump, has vowed to appeal the rulings of two federal judges placing a halt on his revised travel ban on Wednesday — which he called “judicial overreach” all the way to the highest court in the land.

Speaking at a rally in Nashville after the rulings, Trump said: “We’re going to fight this terrible ruling, we’re going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court…and regardless, we’re going to keep our citizens safe, believe me.”

In a major defeat of his effort to institute a travel ban on people coming to the United States from seven Muslim majority Middle Eastern nations, including two in Africa, the federal judges — one in Hawaii and another in Maryland — blocked important sections of the executive order, which were to begin enforcement within hours.

In Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang cited Trump’s own statements about barring Muslims from entering the United States. “Despite these changes, the history of public statements continues to provide a convincing case that the purpose of the Second Executive Order remains the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban,” Chuang said.

In Honolulu, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson criticized what he called the “illogic” of the government’s arguments and cited “significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus” behind the travel ban.

The initial ban sparked chaos at U.S. airports and widespread criticism around the world when it was signed in January. It was met with political anger and pressure to reverse the ban. Many called it racist and said it did little more than keep families away from each other by stranding people in foreign countries. Trump signed a new travel ban on March 6 that worked around the legal issues with the first executive order.

But from a legal standpoint the government could request again that the appellate courts get involved. But the last time that happened, the ban was blocked by a judge in Washington state, a ruling that was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

If the Trump administration were to take the issue all the way to the Supreme Court, it is unclear how it might come out because eight judges are currently on the bench and it is not likely that a ninth would be put in place by the time the case got there.

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